That’s according to a banker who spoke Thursday at Monroe’s Groundhog Day Economic Summit. John Augustine, chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Private Bank, says the price will hit the $4 range in a few months.

“Four dollars is the number that holds consumer spending back, and we’re going to test that number this spring,” he told the gathering.

That was the bad news for the day at the second annual prognostication event, held at the Old Armory and sponsored by Monroe Economic Development.

Allusions to the price of gasoline and automobile’s were in abundance during the two-hour event. Augustine said the nation’s economy is chugging along at a 1.8% annual growth rate when it’s designed for a 3% clip.

“We’re in a car designed to go 60 mph and we’re only going 35 mph,” he said.

He also shared some good news for the nation’s economy. Augustine predicts another period of U.S. consumerism in 2017 when Generation Y comes of the age to start buying things. “There is another consumer generation coming up, but it’s 5 years out,” he said.

On the day when Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter, Raymond Sauer, a Clemson University professor, said the Great Recession is receding but the “great slump” will follow. The debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio will hold back growth, he predicted.

“The debt problem is a serious one, and it’s only going to get worse,” Sauer said.

Got a tip for some regional business gossip? Send it to kelkins@bizjournals.com. Ken Elkins covers regional business news for the Charlotte Business Journal. To read more of his Outside the Loop blog, click here. You can also follow Ken on Twitter @CBJRegion.